For matchers having groups, matcher[index] is either a matched String or a List of matched group Strings.

Since a Matcher coerces to a boolean by calling its find method, the =~ operator is consistent with the simple use of Perl's =~ operator, when it appears as a predicate (in 'if', 'while', etc.). The "stricter-looking" ==~ operator requires an exact match of the whole subject string. It returns a Boolean, not a Matcher.